People planting tree seedlings typically hope to see belts of established trees within a few years. Some will want to protect their stock from cold and heat, and some may hope to provide nesting places for small birds and homes for beneficial insects.
However, there can be great disappointment, and waste, when those newly planted shrubs fail to thrive, or even die. There is a skill to ‘planting them right’ and local residents to gain useful knowledge at a Baynton Sidonia Landcare workshop.
The ‘Plant Them Right’ workshop will offer practical information on how to plant indigenous tubestock and have them survive.
Sharing their knowledge will be Belinda and Gerard Ryan who have plenty of practical experience over years of establishing windbreaks. Recently they have had great success with establishing indigenous trees and shrubs in a hillside paddock, which they planted last autumn at Pyalong. This did not happen by chance. They did the proper preparation of the ground, and despite the very dry conditions, have had a success rate of more than 90 per cent.
The workshop will cover: what to plant where, protecting new plantings, controlling competition and aftercare.
It will begin with a slideshow of commonly planted indigenous understory plants, where to plant them and their main characteristics. Belinda will also give a practical demonstration of planting technique.
The workshop will be held at the Baynton Hall (Darlington Road, Baynton) on Saturday, May 24, from 9.30am to noon. Morning tea is included.
All those interested are welcome. Entry is by gold coin donation. For further informatio, and registration, contact Belinda Ryan on 0427 136 616 by Thursday, May 22.
Audra Ryan assists her grandparents, driving in a stake for a tree guard in a Baynton paddock last autumn. 
A banksia plant emerging from its tree guard just seven months after it was planted at the Ryan’s property in Baynton.
